NEW INC Winter Demo Day 2016

There’s something invigorating about the start of a new year. Here at NEW INC, January also marks the midway point in our program and gives us an occasion to check in and see how things are progressing with our incubatees. On January 22nd, in spite of the looming descent of Winter Storm Jonas, we welcomed over 200 guests to the New Museum for our second Winter Demo Day. The afternoon consisted of 20 presentations that offered attendees a glimpse at the artworks, projects, and products our community is developing. The energy in the room was crackling, as sparks of inspiration and connection unfolded throughout the evening.

Like all our Demo Days, this one showcased the breadth of NEW INC’s community and the various art-meets-tech interpretations our members have dreamt up: immersive theater and dance productions; virtual reality environments; new takes on the experience of memory; platforms for creative collaboration; art projects that investigate our relationship to the internet and digital networks; collections of better-designed gadgets; and more.

After the lightning-round presentations, we welcomed guests up to the Sky Room for an interactive cocktail hour. Mingling over inventive concoctions crafted by sponsors Reyka Vodka and Perrier, guests were able to have a hands-on experience with some of the projects presented on stage. They chatted one-on-one with members, gave feedback and exchanged business cards, and got the chance to test out some of the more experiments — like the combined scent-and-taste cocktail offered by Miriam Simun, and VR experiences like the immersive Microsoft Kinect experience set up by VolvoxLabs. We were thrilled that this event brought about new connections in our extended community, and we want to invite you into seeing selected imagery from the event, below.

Huge thank you to everyone who participated in demo day, both members and guests. And if you missed it, we hope you'll join us in June for the next round of Demo Day for more artworks, products, and businesses from our vibrant community of cultural practitioners. Subscribe to our newsletter to find out about future events!

Presentations in the New Museum Theater

(Clockwise from top left) Teddy Goitom and Senay Berhe give the audience a look at Afripedia; Artist Andrea Wolf shows work "Weather Has Been Nice"; Will Prince from Parc Office previews "Totems"; NEW INC director Julia Kaganskiy greets the audience (Pictures: Sebastian Taylor)

“We presented our past and future story during the #newincdemoday at the New Museum. Such a pleasure and nice response to our philosophy. Thanks to all who came out to play with the demo upstairs too! ”